Apparatus for producing woven wire cloth



APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WOVEN WIRE CLOTH Filed July 11, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet l Zlwuentu FFZNKFgSCH/W/EGE Feb. 21, 1933. F. F. SCHMIEGEAPPARATUS FOR PRODUCING WOVEN WIRE CLOTH v Filed July 11, 1931 .2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 21, 1933 rams 3r; scnmmen, or KA'LAMAZOO,MICHIGAN APPARATUSIOR PRODUCING WQVEN WIRE CLOTH Application and July11, 1931. Serial 110.. 550,220.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for producing wovenwire cloth, and more particularly to an attachment for a standard wireweaving loom which will permit the use of .a-shute or filler wireheavier in proportion to the size of the warp wire in the manufactureofthe woven cloth.

In the use of alstandard wire weavingloom, it is, the customary practiceto run the upper and'lower sheds of the warp wire through a slay whichdrives theshute .or filler wire into itsproper position with respect tothe warp wire. Clothw-oven inaccordance with stand ard practice thenpasses over the breast beam to la take-upor cloth roll upon which it iscollected. 7 a

It has been found diflicult to produce perfectly smooth cloth without awavy surface, and in order to accomplish such result it is necessary :tocrimp each shutewire to a certain extent and as the size of the shutewire is increased inproportion to the warp wire, itbecomes-increasinglydifiicult to crimp the .shute wire sufiiciently toprevent the formation of awavy cloth. For example, when .007 inch warpwire is used in the production ofcloth on a standard loom it isdifficult to employ Va @0775 inch filler wire without the formation of a wavycloth, although {the difference in the size of the warp and shute wiresis very slight. e

The advantages of providing a cloth of very smoothsurfacewhereintheshute wire is of greater diameter than-the warp wire,have been long' recognized, the use of such cloth beingparticularlyadvantageous in making the belts of paper machines and the like duetopthe additional wearing surface provided on the wanp wire and theadded rigidityof the cloth, as wellasto the-more efiicient drain- Q ingaction provided. I v

Attempts have been made to overcome the diflicu'lties incident to theuse of standard looms and ,togorovide wire clothof the char ,acterreferredrto and while-more or less indifferent success has beenattained, attachments ordinarily provided for this purpose havebeen-found to be subject toeXcessive wear, which wear in-turnroughensthe woven cloth. Such attempts have-embodied :the fuseofrelatively rigid rods .or bars carried by and moviab'le with the slay toslightly elevate the cloth "adjacent the weaving point, since suchelevation ofthe cloth permitsthe production of cloth which will be freefrom wavy surfaces. even when relatively largeshute'wire is employed. Asstated,'however, practical'difiiculties have been encountered with suchconstructions such as the excesswearing of the elevating bar or rod,which wearing produces rough surfaces having a substantial abradingeffect upon the cloth.

An important ob ect of the presentinv'ention is to provide a novelandQfully practicable attachment for a standard wire weaving 100111which will permitlthe production of wire cloth having aparticularly'smooth, even surface. p

A further object is to provide an attachment of the character referredto-which permits the production of a smooth wire cloth wherein the shuteor filler wire is of substantially larger diameter than the warp wire.

A further object is to provide )an'attaehment of the character referredto which presents a relatively great area to the lower surface of thecloth, and WhichisresiIient' in its action, thus substantiallyeliminating wear upon the attachment together with the disadvantagesincident -tliereto.

A further ob'ect is to provide. stationary mountin means for theattachment to eliminate thenecessity of securingthe attachment to theslay to move therewith,

Otherv objects and advantages of the invention will become apparenl;dnrirrgthe course of thefollowing description.

In the drawings I have shown one embodiment-of the invention. In thisshowing,

Figure 1 vis a side elevation of a' standard,

lcom showingthe attachment in operative p,o-' sition, V

s Figure 2 is an enlarged detailperspective view of one of thesupporting devices for the attachment, l ure3 is an enlarged frontelevation of a portion of the slay and associated elements, parts beingshownin section, "and, H

Figure 4 is an enlarged 'fragmentary fsed tiona-l view through thelbreastbeam jandf-as-v as will be apparent.

sociated elements, showing the invention applied.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a standard wireweaving loom as a whole having a pair of side frame members 11 suitablyconnected together in the usual manner. The side members extend upwardlyforming a support 12, above the bed of the loom, adapted to pivotallysupport a slay of the standard type indicated by the numeral 13.

Warp wires 14 are fed from a back beam 15 and pass over the usual guidebar 16. Suitable heddles 17 are arranged in the path of the warp wirebeyond the guide bar 16,

and from the heddles, the wire passesthrough the lower portion of theslay in the usual manner. As is well known, the slay serves to drive thefiller wire into proper position, as the warp wire passes therethroughto form the woven cloth. The slay carries the usual reed 16 held inposition by a steel bar 17. After leaving the slay, the woven clothpasses over a breast beam 18 to a take-up roll 19.

The parts previously described are all elements of a standard wireweaving loom, and

any suitable means of the usual type may be employed for swinging theslay back and forth to drivethe shute wire into position, and foroperating the other standard parts of the loom which form no part of thepresent invention. 7

The device forming, the subject matter of the present inventioncomprises a plurality of base plates 20 arranged at any suitabledistance apart in a longitudinal recess 21 formed in the breast beam 18.In practice, the plates 20 are preferably arranged about eighteen inchesapart, and are provided with opposite outstanding flanges 21 receivingbolts 22 by means of which the plate is securedin the positionindicated. A supporting bracket 23 is arranged on the elevated centralportion of each plate 20, and may be spaced therefrom by suitable shims24. Each bracket includes outstanding flanges 25 bolted to the baseplate as at 26. Each bracket further includes a central vertical flange27 having a preferably integral top28 extending transversely of theflange and longitudinally with respect to the breast beam. Each foot 28is provided with a bolt receiving opening 29 for a purpose to bedescribed.

. A relatively heavy longitudinal plate 30 is bolted to the foot 28 ofeach bracket 23 by a bolt or screw 31 mounted in the opening 29 of eachfoot 28. Above the plate 30 is arranged a second plate 32 boltedto thefirst plate as at 33 and extending throughout the length thereof. Theplate 32 is fairly heavy, and is held rigidly in position by the plate30 The elevation of the plate 32 to the position shown in Figure 4provides sufficient clearance for the shuttle race (not shown). Thebroken line 34 indicates the normal plane of travel of the cloth, and itwill be apparent that the body of the plate 32 is inclined with respectthereto. The top of the plate 32 adjacent its free end, however, isprovided with a tapered face parallel to the plane 34 of the cloth.

A resilient contact member 35 is arranged over the plate 32 and contactswith the tapered face thereof. The contact member is preferably made ofspring steel of about .014 gage and extends throughout the length oftheplate 32 and projects beyond the free edge thereof, as shown inFigure 4, to support and elevate the wire cloth up to the last shutewire driven into position. Leaf springs or spring steel arms 36 arebrazed or otherwise secured beneath the outer edge portion of the member35 and correspond in position to the plates 20. Each of the leaf springs36 is notched at one edge as at 37 and is'adapted to interlock with asupporting'spring member 38 similarly notched for this purpose as at 39.The notches in one setof coacting spring members 36 and 38 arepreferably reversed to prevent longitudinal movement of the contactmember 35. v

An angle bracket 40 is secured to one of theflanges 21 by the bolt 22thereof and includes an upstanding armto which the lower end of'thecorresponding spring member 38 is riveted, as at 42. 4 An adjustingscrew 43, provided with a lock nut 44, extends through the upper'end ofeach bracket arm 41 and 'bears against the corresponding spring member38 to'adjust the tension thereof.

The operation of the device is as follows As previously stated, it isadvantageous to elevate the cloth atthe point of weaving, but

in previous attempts to accomplish the desired result, it has beenpossible to only slightly elevate the cloth due to the cutting action ofthe wires against the elevating means, and the consequent abrasiveaction of the damaged elevating means' against the wires. Wlth thepresent device, it has been found that the free edge of the elevatingmember 35 can be brought up to the last shute wire, and can be elevatedto a greater extent due-to its novel construction.

' In this connection it will be noted that the resiliency of the member35, and particularly the overhanging edge thereof, and the use of theresilient supporting members 38, materially reduces the cutting orabrasive action against the'member 35, and this result is greatlyenhanced by the fact that the mounting of the device permits anelevating member of substantial area to be employed. In

actual practice, therefore, it has been found that the wearing actionagainst the member 35 is negligible.

The slay 13 and the .reed 16' operate in the usual manner to drive theshute wire into position, and this action causes the woven cloth to movesuddenly forwardly and to momentarily slightly slacken the cloth. Thecloth adjacent the last shute wire is maintained elevated by theresilient member 35, and thus the latter is subjected to appreciablepressure by the fabric. The movement of the slay, transmitted by thefabric, accordingly causes the entire assembly comprising the members35, seen-d 38' to move forwardly with the cloth, and then to return tonormal position during the mo mentary slackening thereof,'the returnmovement of the assembly being due to the resiliency of the members'38'and causing the edge of the member adjacent the reed to extend overone additional shutewire. The reed directly strikes the member 35 onlywhen the take-up is not-properly adjusted and the release is greaterthan the amount of cloth .woven, but

no harm will be done under such conditions because of the freedom'ofmovement of the member 35 and associated elements. The extension ofthe member 35 to the point of weaving also isv made possible by theresilient mounting, the entire'assembly referred to be ing free to movein the manner stated. Moreover, the resiliency of the device alsopermits the abrasive action of the wires against the member '35 to bereduced to a negligible point and prevents any irregularity in the clothfrom striking the member 35, and breaking it as would occur ifthisinem-ber were stationary. 7

Only a slight tensioning-of the device is required, and this tensionreadily may be adjusted by proper operation of the set screws 43. Theadjustment of the set screws 43 obviously determines the limit ofmovementof the member 35 toward the reed. The lock nuts 44 obviouslyprevent any change in the adjustment of'the resilient members of thedevice; The proper height of the elements "ma be secured by use of theproper shims 24.

he use of flexible'material in the member "35 permits the upper face ofthe latter tocontact throughout its width with the under side of thecloth to further reduceab'rasion due to the large bearing surfaceprovided. Moreover, the use of thin material in the member 35 allows thecloth to be woven near the bottom of thereed, which is its strongestpoint. In viewof the foregoing itwill be apparent that he present deviceprovides novel means I for permitting the useof a standard wire Weavingloom in the production of wire cloth which is perfectly flat and smooth.The de vice also permits the cloth to be, made with materially heaviershute wires than has been accomplished with any prior constructions.

7 Such a cloth, as previously stated, has materialadvanta-ges when usedin connection with paper making machines.

, It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shownvand described is to be taken asja'prefe'rred example of the sameand'that various changes in the shape, size and "arrangement of partsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit of them-- ventionor the scope of the subj'oined "claims. I claim: I

1. In a wire weaving loom having aslay adapted to drive each filler wireinto-wovenv relation withwar p wires, a relatively stationary"-memberhaving its upper face ar-' ranged slightly above the'normal plane of,

ada 'qted to drive each filler wire into Woven i'e'lationwith the warpwires, a resilient relatively s'tationa r member having its upper face Iarranged s ightly above the normal plane of the woven cloth andengageable therewith to elevate it adjacent the weaving point Where theslay'moves to operative position to drive each filler wire into woven'relation with the warp wires, said resilient} member being adapted to flexdownwardly at at leastlone edge portion.

3. In a wire weavin' loom havingaslay adapted to drive each I lle'r wireinto woven relation with the warp wires, a resilient relativelystationary member having its upper face arranged slightly above thenormal plane of the woven cloth and engageable therewith to elevate itadjacent the weaving point where the slay moves to operative 1500position to drive each filler wire into woven relation with the warpwires, and means for adjusting the resilient member toward'the slay.

4. In a wire weaving loom having a slay relation with the warp wires, anelongated stationary plate arranged parallel tothe'slay, aresihentmembersupported on said plate with its upper face arranged slightlyiabove todrive each fillerwire'into woven'relation with the warp wires.

5. In a wire Weaving loom having "a slay adapted to drive each fillerWire into woven relation with the warp wires, an elongated stationaryplate arranged parallel to the slay,

a resilient member supportedon said plate WlthltS upper face-arrangedslightly above the normal plane of the woven cloth, one

edge ofjsaid resilient member extending be yond said plate-andengageable beneath the cloth to elevate it adjacent the weaving pointwhere the slay moves to operativeposit'i'on to drive'each fillerwireinto woven relation with the warp wires, andmeans for varying thedistance'of the projectingporti'on of said readapted to drive eachfiller wire into woven silient member from the slay when the latter isin operative position. A

6. Apparatus constructed in accordance with claim 5 provided with asupport for said plate, said tension varying means comprising aconnection between said support and said resilient member, and anadjusting screwoperating against said connection.

and engageable beneath the cloth to elevate it adjacent the weavingpoint where the slay moves to operative posltion to drive each fillerwire into woven relation with the warp wires. 7 e

8. Apparatus constructed in, accordance with claim 7 providedwith aresillent connection between sa1d resllient member and each of saidsupports and exerting an inwardly moving tendency upon said resilientmember. V v

9. Apparatus constructed in accordance .with claim 7 provided with abracket carried by each support, a resilient connection between saidresilient member and each of said brackets and transmitting an inwardlymoving tendency to said resilient member, and an adjusting screwthreaded in each bracket and contacting with the corresponding resilientconnection to vary the distance 7 of said resilient member from the slaywhen the latter is in operative position.

10. Apparatus constructed in accordance with claim 7 wherein said platesupports said resilient member intermediate its longitudinal edges topermit both of the latter to flex downwardly.

i 11. Ina wire Weaving loom having a slay adapted to drive each fillerwire into woven relation with the warp wires, and a breast beam overwhich the woven cloth is adapted to pass, a relatively stationary membercarried by the breast beam and having its upper .face arranged slightlyabove the normal plane of the woven cloth and engageable therewith toelevate it adjacent the weaving point where the slay moves to operativeposition to drive each filler wire into woven relation with the warpwires.

7 12. In a wire weaving loom having a slay adapted to drive each fillerwire into woven I relation with the warp wires, and a breast beam over.which the woven cloth is adapted to pass, a transversely resilientelongated relatively stationary I member carried by the breast beamparallel to the slayand having its upper face arranged slightly abovethe normal plane of the woven cloth'and' engageable therewith to elevateit adjacent the weaving point where the slay moves to operative positionto driveeach filler wire. into woven relation with the warp wires.

I 13. Apparatus constructed in accordance with claim 12 provided witharigid plate contacting with and supporting said resilient memberintermediate its'longit'udinal edges whereby said member is adapted toflex 'downwardly at both'of said edges. 7

14:. Apparatus constructed in accordance with claim 12 provided; with arigid plate contacting with and supporting said resilient;

member.intermediate its longitudinal edges whereby both of such edgesare adapted to flex downwardly, and resilient means tending to urge saidresilient member inwardly.

15. The combination with a wire weaving loom having a slay adapted todrive each filler wire into woven relation with the warp wires, of arelatively stationary member having its upper face arranged slightly,above the normal plane of the woven cloth and engageable therewith toelevate it adjacent the weaving point where theslay moves to operativeposition to drive each filler wire into woven relation with the warpwires.

, 16. The combiuation with a wire weaving loom having a slay adapted todrive each filler wire into woven relation with the warp wires,o f aresilient elongated relatively stationary member parallel to the slayand having its upper face arranged slightly above the normal plane ofthe woven cloth and engageable therewith to elevate it adjacent theweaving point where the slay moves to operative position to drive eachfiller wire into woven relation with the warp wires.

17. The combination set forth in claim 16 provided with a stationarymember engage able with and adapted to support said resilient memberintermediate the longitudinal edges thereof to permit such edges to flexdownwardly. I

18. The combination set forth in claim 16 provided with a stationarymember engageable with and adapted to support said resilient memberintermediate the longitudinal edges thereof to permit such edges toifiexdownwardly, and resilient means tending to urge said resilient memberinwardly. f

19. The combination witha wire weaving loom having arslay adapted todrive each filler wire into woven relation with the warp wires, andabreast beam over whiclrthe woven cloth is adapted to pass, of arelatively stationary member carried. by the breast beam andhaving itsupper face arranged slightl above the normal plane of the woven clot andengageable therewith to elevate it adjacent the weaving point where theslay moves to operative position to drive eachfiller wire into wovenrelation with thewarp wires.

20. The combination with a wire weaving loom having a slay adapted todrive each filler wire into woven relation with the warp wires, and abreast beam over which the woven cloth is adapted to pass, of anelongated relatively stationary resilient member carried by the breastbeam parallel to the slay and having its upper face arranged slightlyabove the normal plane of the woven clothand engageable therewith toelevate it adjacent the weaving point where the slay moves to operativeposition to drive each filler wire into woven relation with the warpWires, and an elongated stationary member carried by breast beam andcontacting with the lower face of said resilient member intermediate thelongitudinal edges thereof to permit such edges to flex downwardly.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANK F. SCHMIEGE.

